FIDLAR - Too

LA Punk's Show New Found Maturity Within Their Punk Rock Lifestyle

FIDLAR are definitely one of the more interesting bands in the modern punk genre, they've very much solidified themselves as a band who sing about drugs, drinking and fucking up life one step at a time. Their self-titled debut was jam-packed with great, all be it one-dimensional, skate and garage punk anthems, featuring songs with noisy guitars and loud angsty vocals like opener 'Cheap Beer' and main single 'Cocaine', to the more mellow tracks that still stay true to FIDLAR's mantra for example 'Paycheck' or the passive aggressive closing track 'Awkward'. FIDLAR's debut definitely gave the LA boys the attention they deserve, and after an incredible main stage slot at Reading and Leeds 2015 the band have a lot of new fans eager to listen to their latest record.

'Too' shows a very distinctive maturity in FIDLAR's sound, 'West Coast' is a song packing serious summer vibes and pop-punk style lyrics about wanting to leave the typical suburban hell and 'Why Generation' is very much about fitting in today's society, whilst ironically sounding like its been pulled out of 70's California. The band still have plenty of tracks that support their "Fuck it" lifestyle, 'Bad Habits' is one of those that was more of a disappointment, its a track where Zac Carper rants on about all his drug and alcohol problems and what it's doing to him, and for once it's a typical FIDLAR song that, sadly, is quite boring, and the attempt to be funny with the line "Oh My God I'm Becoming My Dad" doesn't redeem anything at all, even if it is the band implying that youth doesn't last forever.

'Sober' is a great example of  how FIDLAR can try out a new style whilst still keeping their personality intact, proving to everyone who knows them that they always succeed in staying original and true to themselves. My favorite track on this album is without a doubt 'Punks' I don't know if this is a homage to their oldest of fans or if they just re-recorded this track for the shits, but somehow they've managed to give this track even more energy, even more fury and even more of that "Fuck It Dog Life's A Risk" attitude than the original 2012 recording 'The Punks Are Finally Taking Acid'.

'Too' definitely shows a huge change from their 2013 debut, the group have matured a lot in that time, and while some of the more mature songs might have turned fans away, it's definitely impressed the vast majority. And while no one can truly say for certain what they'll do next, we all know FIDLAR will be very vocal on whatever it may be.

8/10

GARAGE PUNK / PUNK /POP-PUNK

FAV TRACKS: West Coast - Sober - Punks
LEAST FAV TRACKS: Bad Habits